Empty
by Ina.Yanah
Summary: Note! This is a Road to Ninja fanfic. Menma and Hinata were getting worried by the months that had passed. Almost everyone had the one person they don't: a child. What will this hurdle have in store for them? Will the future have a flicker of hope for the couple or is it only disappointment? (ONE SHOT)


This is a Road to Ninja Fanfic.

This is based on a pic I saw at Facebook(though it was, as I have seen, originally from tumblr) depicting a tragic situation of MenmaHina.

This is a one-shot.

P.s. Get your tissues people... or maybe not xD

...

It was early morning but the sky is colored with dark hues of black and blue.

 _'_ _Just like what I feel...'_ A certain feisty purple haired kunoichi thought to herself as she laid to her side, facing their room's window and the gloomy sky.

The room's atmosphere felt cold and heavy making her pull her blanket closer as her husband's large hand snaked through her waist. The sentiment was sweet but she wasn't really in the mood for 'sweetness' now.

 _'_ It's been so long. They were married for almost two years now, and almost everyone had their own kids. Shikamaru and Temari started the baby trend and it wasn't long before everyone followed after them. It went on for almost a year or two that Kakashi was so devasted (but frankly, quite excited for all the litter of grandkids he'll have) that all his best kunoichi's were getting pregnant except for one... Hinata.

Menma was neutral on the subject, for he did not wish to pressure Hinata for not bearing him a child. It wouldn't help anything anyway. Although Hinata could see the spark of longing in his eyes whenever he sees Sakura and Sasuke's daughter, Sarada, and that made her heart sink and churn.

Hinata couldn't bear the atmosphere any longer. It burns her eyes and her throat is getting tighter by the minute just by thinking about it and it forced her out of bed. She gently pushes Menma's large and warm hand out of the way but she doubts that he wouldn't be disturbed.

"Hina-hime?" Hinata was bearly sitting, putting her slippers and turning on the dim lamp beside their bed when Menma spoke. The movement really startled his sleep. Quickly, Hinata wiped the tears threatening to escape from her eyes, and heaven forbid he sees her like this.

"Yes Menma?" She asked with her usual sweetness but didn't look his way.

"Why are you up so early? The sun isn't even up yet." He says sitting up, rubbing his eyes, squinting.

"Nothing... I just couldn't sleep anymore and! I have to make breakfast." Hinata then stood up, smiled at her still sleepy husband and walked out of the room. Menma groaned slightly before throwing himself back to bed and Hinata just laughed it off and proceeded to their kitchen.

She decided on making pancakes, _piles of them_ , she thought happily and went around the kitchen to get the ingredients. Soon after, she was already flipping and setting them for breakfast. Next up, she'll have to get her not-so-much-of-morning-person husband out of the bedroom. Hinata gently made her way towards their room again and since the sun is already peeking through the dark sky, she decided to open up the curtains to let light in. Menma groaned as the room was slowly illuminated and went under the covers again.

"Menma..." She whines gently, "get up, breakfast is ready. Don't you have meeting early today?"

Well, Menma's been busy for a few months because of being the new Hokage and stuff. But he was still supported by Lady Tsunade and Kakashi. Hinata slowly pulls the covers down revealing Menma's dark hair and half-awake eyes.

"Good morning beautiful." He manages to say, revealing a small smile.

"Good morning to you too, my darling husband." She says as she laid in bed facing him and propping her face to her palm and smiled at him. "C'mon, lets have breakfast. I'm starving." She says as she attempted to get out of bed. But Menma pulled her closer witha Cheshire cat grin, making her fall back.

"No. I want breakfast... _in bed. Now._ "

...

After their _breakfast-in-bed_ encounter (and a little heating of the left-to-the-cold pancakes) and Menma was luckily still in time for his meeting. And although it pains Menma to leave her in their small apartment, he has to go or else Lady Tsunade would have his head. Hinata was silently tidying up their little two-bedroom apartment when the phone rang.

"Hello? Uzumaki residence." She answers.

"Ah, Hinata-chan? It's Sakura. Can you come over today here at the compound in about, say... thirty minutes or an hour? I'm urgently needed in the hospital and I have no one to leave Sarada to..." The pinkette asked as she knew that the Uzumaki couple was so fond of her child.

"Oh." She says as she peeks at their wall clock. "Sure then. I'll be right there." She smiles. The little Uchiha was so much like her Daddy, charms, beauty and all and Hinata wouldn''t even mind looking after her. She finished whatever she was doing and neatly dressing herself in a purple kimono-looking dress, left her long hair flowing to her back and set out to the Uchiha compoud.

Sarada was a perky little kid, bouncing up and down Hinata's lap as she held her. Sakura was getting ready to go so here she is in Sarada's nursery, playing with her on the playing mat. The purple-haired kunoichi was contrastingly soft-hearted towards kids. Maybe because she was longing for so long...

Not long after, Sakura finished preparing and gently peeked at the nursery just to find a very motherly Hinata playing with her child. She smiled at the sight of it.

"Hey Hinata-chan," she started gently as the feisty kunoichi never lets her guard down, "you look motherly." She smiles warmly at her. Hinata only smiled a half-smile and did not let sadness overwhelm her.

"Thank you..."

"I'll be going then. Sarada," she says as she approached the little girl, "be a good girl to Aunt Hinata, okay?" The pinkette said as she kissed Sarada's billboard forehead and the little girl only giggled in return. Hinata saw all this and masked all her feelings of envy inside of her. "I'll be going then." And with one last wave, Sakura was out of the compound.

"You are very fond of your Mommy aren't ya?" Hinata says to Sarada who only gives her a quick smile and proceeds to pull at her long purple locks. "Oh you. Why don't we request to your Mom that she grows her hair a bit longer eh? So you won't pull at my hair that much." She says as she pries Sarada's little hands off of her hair. The action made the little Uchiha cry.

"Oh don't cry baby... hush..." Hinata says and it calms Sarada a little so she set her in her crib to make her some milk. "Time for your nap, I guess. You're being cranky." She says picking Sarada up, giving her her bottle and rocking her gently as she rests in the kunoichis arms. Few minutes later, the little dark-haired girl was fast asleep. She left her in her crib and let the room's door ajar and sat by the wooden ledge near the door, opening to the central gardens of the compound.

She sat there in silence, watching bees and butterflies flutter to one flower to another. The compoud was very traditional just like her old home and there was a feeling of familiarity, away from all the things that depresses her.

A knock on the front door distrupted her thoughts. _Were they expecting a visitor?,_ she thought, although she still armed herself with a kunai just in case. The knocks came a little more demanding.

"Coming!" She says. Opening the door, she sees Lady Tsunade and she immidiately withdrew her weapon.

"Tsunade-sama... I thought you have a meeting with Menma. If you're loking for Sakura she's-"

"No Hinata. It's you who I want to talk to. It's about the results of your medical examinations a few weeks ago." And her face paled.

...

 _Flashback!_

 _Hinata waits for the results of the pregnancy test impatiently. She was delayed for a week now and she was hoping that, finally, she is with child. She stands by the other side of the bathroom door as she hears Menma pacing around. A few minutes later, only one line appears._ 'I'll try again...' _She says and does the process over again for the second time but it still has the same result. Negative._

 _She went out of the bathroom, with tears falling to her cheeks. Menma smiles at her sadly, knowing that by the reaction he saw when she came out. He immediately embraced her, feeling tears fall to his shoulder as she clung to his neck._

 _"Menma... why? Why wouldn't we have child?" Hinata said as she sobbed greatly to her husband's shoulder. "How would I even be an heir to the Hyuuga bloodline? How could our legacy continue? What would the people say? Of all the people, why me?" Menma didn't try to say anything throughout her rant. She just voiced out all her fears so he just stood there, hugging her to no end and gently massaging her back as she cried. It took her a while before she calmed down, her cries became sobs and Menma lets her go gently. He puts his hands gently at her waist and kept his forehead on hers as she still sniffs._

 _"Hina-hime..." He calls but she kept her eyes cast down, "Hina-chan, look at me." Slowly, her tear-stained eyes met his cerulean ones._

 _"I don't give a damn on the heir and bloodline stuff. Just like you, I just want to have a child that would somehow fill the emptiness we both feel. We both know that we are read for some time now to have one but maybe, we weren't destined to have one..." He says sadly and Hinata's eyes were wide with realization, anger evident in her eyes._

 _"What are you saying? Are you saying that I'm-"_

 _"No. No I'm not saying you are sterile and no I'm not blaming you. I'm saying that both of us might be." Menma says nervously. Hinata calms down immidiately. "Nee, Hina-hime... why don't we have ourselves examined? Then maybe we would stop being disappointed and all..." He says as he takes her hand in his and starts massaging her with his thumbs. "What do you say?" He adds then kisses the back of her hands._

 _"But I want a child Menma... someone who would call me 'Mom' and call you 'Dad'." She sniffs once again._

 _"There are other ways, love. We could adopt, dattebayo." He smiles fondly and she huddled herself to him once again, smiling even just for a little bit._

 _End of Flashback!_

 _..._

"I wanted to tell you first." Lady Tsunade said as she entered the compound and as Hinata was brought back to reality.

"Oh. Yes, of course..." She said as she followed her inside and found her in Sarada's room, gently stroking the little Uchiha's hair.

"Definitely looks like her father eh? But has quite the billboard forehead." Tsunade says gently before turning to Hinata who was waiting by the door. "Now, lets talk about you." She said as she walked out of the room and stood by the ledge.

"I was surprised a week ago when you suddenly appeared in my clinic... but I already had a hunch on what you both want..." She paused and sighed. "It has been long hasn't it?" She asked.

"Yes it has, milady..."

"Well then, here are the results..." Tsunade says as she hands her an envelope containing the results of their medical examinations. Hinata gently received the envelope and ripped it open. She didn't bother reading the details and went straght to the lower portion of the papers. Tears started to roll on her cheeks. She was definitely sterile and Menma has no complications at all.

"I'm sorry Hinata..." Tsunade says gently as she hugs the Hyuuga princess.

"Hina-chan?" Menma's voice was gentle as she approached the two. "What's wrong?" But then he eyed the papers scattered on the floor and he knew what the ruckus was all about. Hinata clung to him as if her life depended on him.

"I'm... sorry... I'm so sorry... I-I cannot bear a child for you... I'm... I'm so sorry!" She said in between sobs and as her hug tightened around him. Her sobs were becoming louder and desperate as the little girl in the nearby room stirred in her sleep. Tsunade noticed this and decided to tranfer the little girl into one of the many guest rooms in the compound. Well, for a few minutes.

"I'll look after the little girl for a bit." She said as she scurried down the hall and left the couple to themselves.

When Hinata had calmed down after a few minutes, she let her grip on Menma loosen and went inside the nursery which was Sarada's room. She stood by the crib, holding on to the short dainty white rails as if they were the only support she had to keep her from falling. She cried silently and had her head bowed down so that her tear-stained eyes were covered. Everything in the room was decorated to what a little child would want. Large teddy bears were lined by the walls and some toys were out of the box or their usual place but it was definitely perfect for a child. Although they could afford all this things, they wouldn't be able to have a child with their own fesh and blood.

Menma stood silently by the doorway, watching his beautiful wife cry in pain as she shoulders shook from her sobs and how she was desperately trying to breathe. He approached her gently and snaked his arms from behind to hug her.

"Hinata... please. Please stop crying..."

"But aren't you disappointed in me? We wouldn't have a child Menma! We never would!" She cried as she turned away fro him. But that didn't keep him away for more than a second as he came back to hug her even tighter.

"I told you there are other ways. If you want, we can adopt and treat him or her like our own. Would it matter if he or she wasn't from us? It wouldn't as long as we have each other isn't it? We would love him or her like our own yeah?" He told her and she gently nodded. "I love you. And I wouldn't leave you if that's what you are thinking. I am here and we can get through this together." He finishes as she kisses her forehead and she calms down a little more. And maybe, the future isn't always as dark as it seems as hope springs anew within the kunoichi's heart.

...

(TT-TT) Is it tragic enough? This is the first ever tragic(or is it? XD) story I ever written. As I have said earlier, this idea came from a picture I saw in Facebook and I was encouraged to write about it. But anyway, what do you think? Reviews are so welcomed. Thanks for reading! I hope you had a nice feels trip xD *shares virtual cookies to everyone*


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